Courage for Newness

Each summer I watch our mulberry tree in the front yard bear new fruit. I have the joy of picking those berries and enjoying them on pancakes and in my cereal. For many years now, we've cared for that tree by pruning it and watering it. It's amazing to watch it's renewal each year!

Just as that tree brings fruit to our table each summer, so there is a process where I may have renewal or "freshness" as well. As an act of my faith, I identify with Christ in His death so that I may experience that resurrection life.

Romans 6:4 - "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."

Romans 7:6 - "But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter."


newness - kainotes - (kahee-not'-ace) - freshness, renewal, not simply an experience similar to the past, but a qualitative different one; having not been this way before

The above two passages are the only places this word "newness" is used in the Bible. It stems from the same initial experience (salvation) but produces a qualitatively different experience from past experiences. In Christian circles, that "experience" is sometimes called "growth" or "maturity". It is more than the acquiring of more knowledge. It is literally walking by the Spirit out into places we've not yet been.

It's interesting that many of us want to "grow" and experience the Father more, but going where we've never gone before makes us anxious. So, the tension between our desire to grow and the anxiousness of the unknown can cause us to "freeze" in our tracks. The wonderful thing about the Father, though, is that He knows where we should grow and will continually "draw" us to that growth. That "drawing" might look like a desire to be with certain people. It might look like wanting to read the Bible more. It might look like talking to the Father more than ever before.

Suddenly we find that the "pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change". Taking the step out into "the wide open spaces" of the Father becomes a joy. It's found that all along He was leading and creating hunger for more of Him. Our vision of Him is qualitatively larger and keener. There are new areas of Him that open to us. Courage to keep going rises because of the way He met us for the current step of growth. That is a picture of the "newness" of life in the Spirit!

Just as I know my mulberry tree has in it the potential for bearing fruit, so I know the Father has put in us the potential for growth.

Father, I sense Your drawing hand. I know You want to see me walk in newness of life more than I even know. Help me not fear so much the change but long for the newness of life You offer. I know what it is like to feel that pressure to serve because I am supposed to serve. What potential do you see in me, Father? I need courage!